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Better Work Vietnam (Phase II) and Better Work Indonesia (Phase II) - Final cluster evaluation

eval_number:

2061

eval_url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/2061

lessons_learned:

themes:

theme:

Labour standards

category:

International Labour Standards

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comments:

ILO Better Work program

challenges:

Changes in laws and regulations are often subject to disagreement and long negotiations between tripartite partners and are therefore slow to take effect. In Vietnam there are also long delays between the release of laws, including the Labour Code, and the release of regulatory guidelines on the implementation of the law. Compliance assessments on the other hand are on-going and are based on current law. This may result in repeat non compliance issues in areas where laws are overly stringent or not practical and can undermine commitment to broader areas of compliance.

success:

In Vietnam and Indonesia, many of Better Work’s efforts in contributing to an enabling policy environment for labour compliance are responses to issues raised at the factory level, increasing the relevance of the Better Work program. ILO country programmes can draw on BW experience to provide evidence in policy discussions on law and policy revision. BW’s experience and focus on factory compliance can support the ILO’s capacity to exert influence on labour policy consistency and coherence, on its effective implementation, and to improve coordination among stakeholders in the global value chain.

context:

In both countries, employers frequently argue that certain articles within the current labour laws are too stringent to enable them to comply. In the absence of reform, many enterprises look for loopholes to avoid compliance. In Vietnam factories have found it difficult to comply with articles of the Labour Code relating to the settlement period for special leave payments, which were found to be practically difficult to comply with. Another complaint of enterprise managers and owners in Vietnam is that monthly overtime limits of 30 hours and annual overtime limits of 300 hours are too low in an industry where buyers often require rapid response to orders. Enterprises frequently resort to higher overtime levels than those permitted to remain competitive. Overtime limits may potentially be increased under the ongoing labour law reform process in Vietnam. There are opportunities for BW and the ILO to bring evidence and guiding principles on protecting workers’ rights and well-being, while promoting a competitive industry to legal policy discussion platforms. In Indonesia an area of noncompliance that may be a result of laws that are not adapted to industry conditions is in the area of contracts. During phase II, many BW factories moved toward noncompliance in adhering to short-term contract limits, subcontracting and providing termination benefits to workers who resign. Enterprises also find it very difficult to comply with a national law which establishes a quota for hiring persons with disabilities (set at one per cent for companies with more than 100 employees) because of the absence of relevant training programs, among other reasons.

description:

Better Work Indonesia (BWI) and Better Work Vietnam (BWV) aim to improve compliance with national and international labour standards and promote competitiveness in the countries’ apparel industry by assessing current workplace conditions and offering customized advisory and training services to factories to address their individual needs. The Better Work programme helps employers and workers to achieve compliance by building their capacity to work together toward solutions at the factory level. Among the challenges to improving compliance are labour laws that are overly stringent, impractical or out of sync with the requirements of the industry. When the labour laws are overly stringent laws, or related regulations significantly limit factory competitiveness or are otherwise impractical, few factories will comply and this may create additional compliance issues or inconsistencies (such as the illegal use of short term contracts by factories in Indonesia to avoid laws that impose an extremely high severance payments on employers for laying off employees). This type of compliance issue is unlikely to be resolved at the factory level alone because changes in laws and regulations or further regulatory guidance may be needed. These issues need to be taken into account in BW reporting on compliance by highlighting the contextual factors that make compliance difficult. BW can also support policy change strategies together with ILO country programs, based the body of evidence from the BW program.

administrative_issues:

No additional ILO resources required

url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/197809

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location:

country:

Indonesia

region:

Asia and the Pacific

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country:

Viet Nam

region:

Asia and the Pacific

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eval_title:

Better Work Vietnam (Phase II) and Better Work Indonesia (Phase II) - Final cluster evaluation